


I'll Hunt You Down

by adeliesclater



Category: Space ☆ Dandy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 12:43:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7892725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adeliesclater/pseuds/adeliesclater
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twelve Years. It had been twelve years since Dandy had helped her. Now that she was finally grown up, Adélie planned to keep her promise to turn the tables and hunt down the alien hunter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Hunt You Down

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing a Space Dandy fic (despite this being my favorite series) and honestly, this is super self indulgent. Adélie is my absolute favorite character from the series and I really wanted to write about her fulfilling that promise she made in the end of the dub.

Adélie sat on the floor and stared at her stuffed animal as she thought about what she was going to do. She had thought about this ever since Dandy reunited her with her grandfather. The last time Dandy had seen her, she was small, young, and stubborn. Now she was taller, older, but still pretty stubborn. Adélie shut her eyes, going through her plan in her head again.

“What if he doesn’t recognize me?” she mumbled to herself, pulling her knees to her chest. Twelve years ago she had promised she would grow up quick and hunt Dandy down, but the growing part took too long. She wanted to find him sooner, but she wanted to keep her promise even if Dandy didn’t hear her say it. Adélie sighed and opened her eyes to stare at the penguin again.

“He can’t be that dense, could he? I just need to tell him who I am and he’ll remember… Right?” She tilted her head and puffed her cheeks out in frustration. Sure, many years had passed, but could he really forget the Gentooan he helped instead of registered? The simple thought of Dandy not recognizing her was making her upset.

“Maybe I’m just another alien he met and forgot.” Adélie groaned flopped onto her side, legs still pulled up to her chest in fetal position. “Maybe he forgot about me as soon as he saw another woman.”

Adélie paused and thought about that. Another. She wasn’t a woman at that time, why did she say another? Even if she tried to act like an adult back then, it didn’t mean she really was.

Someone knocked at the door and Adélie sat up. She turned around, watching the door open.

“Adélie, are you going soon?” A familiar voice asked.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’ll be going in a few minutes. Will you be alright here by yourself, grandpa?”

Her grandpa nodded and dug around in his pocket. “I’ll be fine, don’t you worry about me.” He pulled out several bills and handed them to his granddaughter. “Here, I don’t want you getting hungry or left without any money for the train.”

Adélie counted the money handed to her and frowned. “Grandpa, this is too much,” she furrowed her brow and tried to return half of it. “I don’t need 10,000 woolongs.”

Her grandpa shook his head and pushed her hand back. “Just take it. Buy that man lunch when you see him. My treat for looking after you back then.” Adélie sighed but nodded, thanking him as she put the money in her pocket. She got up and tightly hugged her grandpa.

“I’ll be back in a few days,” she told him as he pet her head. When she pulled back from the hug, she smiled. “If I’m not back by then, then I’m still looking for him.”

 

* * *

 

_Boobies_ , she thought as she stared at the breastuarant’s logo. _That’s all men ever seem to think about_. She sighed, hugged her penguin tighter, and walked into the building. As soon as she stepped in, a petite but busty girl welcomed her and asked if she was dining alone. Adélie hesitated.

“I,” she cleared her throat. “I’m actually looking for someone. He…” She paused, realizing Dandy now might not look like the Dandy she knew twelve years ago. She squeezed her penguin, realizing that if Dandy had changed then she wouldn't be able to find him.

“What was that? Who’re you looking for, miss?” The hostess looked her up and down, wondering if the alien was here to see the manager to apply as a waitress. Adélie took a deep breath and looked the waitress in the eye, mustering up the confidence needed in case this woman said she didn't know who she was talking about.

“I’m looking for a man named Dandy. He’s tall, kind of lanky… Oh, and he has a big pompadour.”

The hostess put a finger to her chin and tried to think about the recent customers who had been there. Adélie pursed her lips, hoping she at least knew who he was.

“Hmmm… That’s a pretty vague description, miss. I don’t–”

“Hey Stella, are you doing okay over here?” Another voice asked. Adélie turned to see a blond woman walk up to the hostess. She wasn’t wearing the same uniform the hostess wore and she had a small pink cloud floating around her shoulders.  _A cloudian?_ Adélie thought.

“Oh, Honey! No, everything’s fine. This young lady came in asking for someone.”

“I’m looking for a tall man with a black pompadour named Dandy,” Adélie blurted out, hoping this woman would help her.

“Oh, Dandy!” Honey said, clapping her hands. “You mean Space Dandy, right? The alien bounty hunter? He’s our best customer!” Adélie smiled. That _had_ to be him.

“So you know him? Do you know if he’s here?” Adélie hugged her penguin tighter thinking her search would be easier than she thought.

“Unfortunately, he’s not in this restaurant,” Honey muttered, turning around to scan the restaurant quickly to look for him and his strange little crew. “Buuut,” she turned back around and offered her hand to the alien. “If you come with me I can call around and see where he is. If he’s not here, he’s definitely at another one of our restaurants.”

Adélie’s antennae twitched, a knee-jerk reaction that she still hasn’t shaken since she was little. She took Honey’s hand and smiled, trusting this woman.

“Thank you,” she said meekly.

“No problem!” Honey smiled wide and excitedly led Adélie to a booth in the corner of the restaurant. Since it was still pretty early in the day, that section was nearly empty. “Lily! Could you help this young lady over here?” Honey turned back to Adélie. “Order whatever you want! This meal’s on me.” She smiled before remembering something. “Oh! How rude of me! My name’s Honey, I’m Chief of Staff for BooBies. I never caught your name.”

“It’s Adélie,” she smiled before glancing over at the waitress who came over. “Um, can I just have a glass of water?” The waitress nodded and left to fill the order. Adélie turned back to say something to Honey, but she already waltzed off to call around for Dandy. Adélie sighed and stared at the table. When the waitress returned, she thanked her and sipped at her water while she waited for Honey to return. Why was this woman so helpful? Did she somehow have a connection with Dandy? Adélie went through different questions in her head while she waited.

“So good news!” Honey exclaimed, startling Adélie. She sat down at the booth to tell Adélie the news. “Dandy is definitely in one of our restaurants right now!” Adélie perked up, almost in awe that Honey found him so fast. “But there’s some bad news.”

“W-what is it?” Adélie pursed her lips, hands fidgeting under the table.

“The restaurant is in another part of the galaxy and it’ll probably take an hour or two to get there.”

Adélie sighed and dropped her eyes back to the table. By the time Adélie could get there, Dandy could be long gone and hunting down aliens. So much for finding him so soon.

“I asked my friend Rose to stall him if he tries to leave,” Honey continued, leaning in to try and get Adélie's attention back. “I know I’m supposed to be checking on this restaurant, but…” Her eyes glanced over at the busier part of the restaurant. “My girls here are amazing and I’m sure everything will be fine. If we take the corporate ship, we should be there in no time.”

Adélie blinked. “Is it really okay?”

“Yeah!” Honey beamed. “The sooner we leave, the higher the chances we catch him.”

 

* * *

  
Inside the ship was a little awkward to say the least. Honey was still chipper as ever as she steered through space while Adélie sat in the passenger seat, clutching her penguin. Twenty minutes of silence had passed before Adélie finally worked up the courage to speak.

“So, Honey?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you helping me?”

As soon as the silence fell, Adélie instantly regret asking the question. Honey hummed before finally answering.

“When I was still waitressing at BooBies, I served Dandy a lot.” Adélie glanced at Honey, wondering why she was talking about this. “He was my number one customer, saw him at least once a week. One day he caught a pretty good bounty and had a few drinks with his crew to celebrate.” Honey chuckled. “He got pretty drunk and I decided to hear his drunk stories since the restaurant wasn't too busy.”

Adelie perked up, already figuring out where Honey was going with this.

“Well, one of the stories was really touching. He told me about this little girl he practically adopted for a few days. Apparently she was a little brat, but he warmed up to her and decided to help her instead of register her.” Honey smiled and sneaked a glance at Adélie. "Y'know, Dandy is practically the reason I went up in the company. If I could reunite him with that little girl, then I could at least feel like I repaid him. Seeing you made me remember that story. Its been at least ten years since I heard it and you still fit his description."

Adélie lifted her head and stared out the windshield. If what Honey said was true, then he would recognize her. Adélie smiled softly and hugged her penguin close, feeling reassured that this trip wouldn't be a waste of time.

They spent the rest of the ride swapping stories: Honey about Dandy and Adélie about her life in general. By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Adélie wanted to stay and talk with Honey more. As much as she wanted to, she knew she was there for a reason and took a deep breath.

“He should be in there,” Honey told Adélie, eyes scanning the ships parked just outside the restaurant. “When you see him, tell him to come meet me sometime. I haven’t seen him around much since I went up in the company.”

Adélie nodded and thanked Honey. With her penguin in her arms, Adélie left the ship and made her way into the restaurant. As soon as she stepped in, her eyes scanned the building for that familiar hairdo. The hostess, just like the one in the previous restaurant, greeted her and asked if she was dining alone.

“N-no,” she said, still looking. The hostess turned around and looked around for anyone waving down the girl. “I’m looking for someone.”

The hostess asked for a description and asked Adélie to sit down as she went around the restaurant looking for the person. Adélie clutched her penguin, still scanning for Dandy. Adélie didn't even know how much time had passed while in the ship with Honey. Did he already leave? Was she too late? Anxiety began to bubble within her as she buried her face into her plush, already accepting that Dandy had left.

“I’m telling you, that waitress was trying way too hard! You should’ve tipped her more.” Adélie ignored the robotic voice as it came closer.

“I dunno, QT. I don’t think she was after a bigger tip. It felt like she had an ulterior motive.”

“Well whatever that reason was, any reason to stay at BooBies is a good reason.”

Adélie gasped, looking up. That voice. She ignored the robot and the cat and looked directly at the person who spoke last.

“D… Dandy,” she whispered, barely audible. She stared at him as he passed, mouth slightly open. Other than his slick black hair being peppered with grey hairs, Dandy looked the same. Same clothes, same slouch, same Dandy. Adélie breathed in, about to call out to him before Dandy stopped in his tracks.

“Dandy? What’s wrong? Did you forget your wallet?” QT asked as he stopped and spun around to face his captain. Dandy shook his head.

“You look familiar, kid.” He turned his head and got a good look at Adélie. She jumped. Dandy smiled and turned to face the familiar alien. “How long as it been, baby? Aren’t you even gonna say hi?”

“Dandy, who are you talking to?” Meow asked, not even looking up from his smartphone. Adélie smiled and stood up.

“Hi Dandy.” Dandy smirked and pulled his hands out of his pockets to open his arms up for a hug. Adélie smiled wide, set her penguin down on the seat, and nearly jumped into Dandy’s arms.


End file.
